The Laurel–Langley Agreement was a

trade agreement A trade agreement (also known as trade pact) is a wide-ranging taxes, tariff and trade treaty that often includes investment guarantees. It exists when two or more countries agree on terms that help them trade with each other. The most common tra ...

signed in December 15, 1954 between the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and its former colony the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It was signed by Senator Jose P. Laurel and James Langley. The agreement took effect in 1955 after approval from both Philippine Congress and U.S. Congress. The new revised agreement was signed by

Carlos P. Romulo Carlos Peña Romulo Sr. (January 14, 1899 – December 15, 1985) was a Filipino people, Filipino diplomat, statesman, soldier, journalist and author. He was a co-founder of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, a general in the US Army and the Phi ...

and James Langley in September 6, 1955 at Washington. It expired in 1974. It was an amendment to the Bell Trade Act, which had given full parity rights to American citizens and businesses.

Provisions

The Laurel–Langley Agreement ended the free American market for

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

produced in the Philippines; it had been, before the agreement, exported to the U.S. duty-free. After the 1960s, exports from the Philippines increased significantly due to the American embargo against Cuba. The agreement also ended the authority of the United States to control the

exchange rate In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...

of the Philippine

peso The peso is the monetary unit of several Hispanophone, Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, as well as the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries of the Americas, the symbol com ...

. Up until the agreement, it had been pegged to the American dollar at the rate of two pesos to one dollar..

Reception

Senator Claro M. Recto criticized the agreement due its flaws. These deficiencies include the opening of the Philippine economy to American capitalists and reviving competition which led to large deficits between local and foreign goods. American businessmen also took advantage of this agreement exempting them from the Retail Trade Nationalization law.

Notes

References

External links

Text of the agreement
(pdf). See pp. 2981–3024. Treaties of the Philippines Economic history of the Philippines Treaties of the United States Treaties concluded in 1955 Philippines–United States relations Commercial treaties Presidency of Ramon Magsaysay History of foreign trade of the United States Eponymous treaties {{Treaty-stub